In Terms of the Four Noble Truths
May 18, 2008
The Buddha once said that there’s no one internal quality more useful for awakening than appropriate attention: asking the right questions, looking at things in the right light. And appropriate attention essentially comes down to seeing things in terms of the four noble truths. And the truths here are not issues of just saying, “Well, there is suffering, there is the cause, there is cessation, there is a path.” It’s expressed in this way: “This is suffering.” In other words, you look directly at what suffering is or what stress is. You try to identify in your immediate experience what the cause of suffering is. This is the cause of suffering, the origination of suffering, what arises together with suffering. This is cessation. This is the path. In other words, you look for these things in your direct experience. This is the framework of questions you bring to the direct experience—where is the stress? Oh, it’s right here. Where is the cause? It’s right here too, but you have to look closely to find it.